Mark Ayler: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jan 8, 2015 (fatal): Employee is killed when pinned between forklift and trailer

At 7:30 a.m. on January 18, 2015, an employee was operating a Champ forklift (Model Number 350HLPX, Serial Number CCM10648) to move a double flatbed trailer that needed to be sandblasted. The employee disengaged the airbrakes on the trailer and attached the front trailer with a chain to the forklift prior to backing up the trailer to a staging position in the yard. The area was fairly flat and level. The trailers landing gear was set on the ground but the forks were still elevated. The employee positioned himself inside the forks and between the forklift and the trailer at about the center of the trailer. The forklift moved forward and pinned him to the trailer. The base of the landing gear was partially buried into the ground and the track marks on the ground show that it had been pushed back about two feet. The employee suffered a massive abdominal trauma from the accident which resulted in his death. death.